For the second time ever, BookNet is running our State of Bookselling survey. We want to learn everything we can about the health and needs of independent booksellers across Canada.

You might remember the results of our 2018 survey, What’s in Store: The State of Independent Bookselling in Canada, which we used to dispel several common myths about independent bookselling in Canada.

So this time, we’re asking you, independent booksellers of Canada, to tell us what challenges you're facing as well as what's working in your stores. If you've ever wanted to have your retailer voice heard, here's your chance.

In addition to capturing the reality of bookselling in 2020, the results of this survey will also be compared to the 2018 benchmark report, What’s in Store: The State of Independent Bookselling in Canada, to show trends in the industry as well as new, emerging concerns or successes.

We’ve made the survey easier this year — if you’re a Bookmanager store, we even have a screenshot of where you can find some of the information we’re requesting. If you want to see the questions before you start, you can find them in this PDF. As always, if you need a break while completing the survey, you can close it and come back to it later on the same computer to pick up where you left off — but just remember, you can't edit responses after it’s completed.

This study is intended to provide the industry with an overview of what is going on in book retailing in Canada; data will only be released in aggregate form, which means your responses will be kept completely anonymous.

As a thank you for completing our survey, every respondent will receive an early copy of the final report, as well as a complementary copy of The Canadian Book Market 2020.

Need more reasons to participate? The final report will

enable and inform data-driven decisions across the industry
capture the reality of bookselling in 2020
benchmark changes over time to show trends in the industry
benchmark your store against others
help BookNet and other industry organizations pinpoint initiatives that will support independent bookselling
support lobbying efforts
give media the information they need to write stories about the sector

Take the survey